Fred Sanford may have been hilarious on-screen, but behind the scenes, Redd Foxx was a firestorm of demands, tension, and unfiltered speech. The most shocking moment came during a heated argument with Demond Wilson, the actor who played his son Lamont.
During Season 5, the two stars clashed over script rewrites. Foxx wanted more raunchy humor; Wilson wanted heart. Things escalated when Foxx allegedly called Wilson a racial slur during a rehearsal—believing it was “just part of the act.” Wilson didn’t agree.
He stormed off set, refusing to film. For two days, production halted. NBC was forced to step in, mediating an off-camera meeting between the two stars. Though Wilson returned, the relationship never fully recovered.
Wilson would later reveal in interviews that he felt betrayed. “You don’t throw that word around—not even in character. There’s a line.” The tension continued through the rest of the season and is one of the reasons he left the show before it ended.
To this day, the network never aired the full story. But cast members remember it as the day Sanford and Son nearly fell apart forever.
